A Shocking Revelation
by Ashlynn Lynx
Summary: Alex thought she loved Mason. But maybe it's not him that she's thinking about... Jalex.  PLEASE REVIEW, just because I love you :3
1. Love Can Be Wrong

He had a beautiful innocence about him. His smile, his eyes, his voice... Everything about him was beautiful. Except for that _one_ little thing, of course.

"Why does this always happen to me?" Alex wondered aloud. She sat in her room, looking at all the pictures of her and Mason. He hadn't come over today; he'd been out with his family, apparently. Alex still hadn't met them, and she had no inclination to. The shock of Mason's secret had been enough, and Alex didn't think she could handle meeting his parents yet.

She thought back on when she first met him. He had been so sweet to her, complimented her on her painting, asked her to have tea with him. Alex remembered telling Harper later, "He's so _British_!" He'd been so naïve when it came to New York antics, and water ballooning people from the rooftop had almost seemed to frighten him. _I'm beginning to change him, though_, Alex thought to herself. But was that a good thing?

A question that Alex had always asked herself rose up once again. Was it her that awakened the monster inside of Mason? Was it her fault that he was a werewolf? That's impossible, she told herself. But still, she couldn't be sure. She felt so guilty, and she didn't know why.

She fell asleep that night, wondering to her self. Mason loved her, and she loved him back, so why was she making excuses? He would never change his mind.

But maybe Alex would.

Maybe she had.

She awoke in the middle of the night, the headache from her heartache taking over. She opened the bathroom cabinet, grabbed a couple of Tylenol, and downed them with some cool water. On the way back to her room, she passed Justin's open doorway. She gazed at him, sprawled out on top of his covers, shirtless. He'd probably fallen asleep while studying for some test. Alex's eyes lingered a bit longer than necessary on his bare chest, and she gasped.

She ran back to her room, closing the door quickly and quietly, and sank down into her bed. She began to cry silently, so that no one would wake up and ask what was wrong. If they'd asked five minutes ago, she wouldn't have had a clue. But now she knew. She understood everything.

Alex made excuses about Mason to convince herself that they didn't belong together. Because it wasn't Mason that she thought about, wasn't Mason that she wanted, and it wasn't Mason that she loved.

It was Justin.

Her own brother, the brains of the family, and her parents' pride and joy. She'd always stood in his shadow, a place from which she could admire him without being notice. But it wasn't until now that _she_ noticed.

And now that she had, it was going to tear her life apart.


	2. You Make Me Sick

_What do I do?_ Alex wondered as she sobbed. She could never tell anyone. Her parents would disown her. That she could have lived with. But Justin... She smiled through her tears as she thought his name, but it vanished as she finished her thought. Justin would be disgusted with her. He could never love her back that way. He always stuck close to the rules, and this was one rule that he certainly wouldn't bend, let alone break.

Alex couldn't understand, couldn't believe why she could love her brother that way. She began to feel sick. Really sick. She rushed back to the bathroom, throwing open the door and promptly vomiting into the toilet. Someone rushed in a few seconds later, holding back her hair for her and asking if she was okay. And she didn't have to guess who it was.

Of course Justin was the light sleeper. Of course she would've only woken him. Why would God have willed it any different?

"Alex, are you okay?" Justin asked, his velvet voice making Alex's head swim, causing her to heave once more. The sound was so sickening that Justin was afraid Alex was going to hurt herself.

"I'm...fine," Alex managed, before hurling once more.

Finally, Jerry and Theresa stumbled out of their room. They looked at Alex, still hurling ceaselessly into the toilet bowl, and then at Justin, who was still keeping her hair back from her face. "What's wrong?" they asked.

"Alex just feels sick. You guys go back to bed. I'll take care of her." Justin replied.

The Russo parents gave Justin a tired, grateful look, before turning and going to bed.

After their bedroom door closed, Alex vomited one last time before falling back into Justin, tired, sweaty, and exhausted. He held her in his lap, his arms wrapped around her. Alex fell asleep quickly, and Justin stood and carried her to her room. As he laid her down in her bed and covered her with her favorite fleece blanket, he noticed how beautiful she looked.

_You're sick_, he thought to himself. Not in the way Alex had just become, but in the way that was, well, disgusting. To the point of illegal. He swore Alex would never love him back. She saw him as a nerd, a know-it-all, a show off, and her brother. And though she was a notorious rule breaker, that was one one line that she would not cross.

Her smile, her voice, her confidence, her beauty, her everything was why Justin could hardly sleep. On the nights that he couldn't sleep, he cut. Because it was the only way to rid him of his anguish, and the only way to keep his mind from thinking those beautiful, horrible, incestuous thoughts. The blood trickling down his arm was a free feeling. He didn't have to worry about Alex, or school, or anything at all.

He carefully kept his scars hidden, but since no one suspected a thing, they were easy to miss and easy to hide. Justin was far more twisted and tormented than he himself could believe. As he looked at the clock, which read 1:13, he pulled his covers over his head, and returned to a rather unpeaceful slumber.


	3. There's No Avoiding It

Friday morning rolled around, and Alex couldn't bear going to school. She'd have to see Justin in the hallways, have to hear him taunt her in his nerdy alien language that she secretly adored, and she wouldn't be able to take it. "Mom, I still feel sick. I don't have a test or anything important today. Can I _please_ stay home?" Alex pleaded.

Theresa had pity on her daughter, knowing she'd been sick the night before, and allowed her request. "Your father and I will be gone this weekend, you know," Theresa reminded her. "I convinced him that he forgot our anniversary…Again."

Alex laughed lightly as her mother continued down the hallway. She retreated back into her room, closing the door just as Justin passed her room. The smell of his cologne whooshed in with the air, intoxicating Alex as the sweet aroma replaced the air around her. How could he affect her so deeply? Thank heavens she'd stayed home from school. She needed more time to think this through.

Justin descended the stairs after passing Alex's bedroom, proceeding to the kitchen island where his mother was slicing an apple. "Why isn't Alex up?" he asked.

"Oh, Justin, she still feels sick. I wouldn't make her go to school today, especially with her getting so sick last night," Theresa explained.

"Aren't you and dad leaving?" Justin asked, masking the happiness in his voice at the thought with concern. "Shouldn't someone stay here to look after her?"

"Well, I'd really like to, Justin, but we've had this weekend planned for a while now, and I can't afford to canc—"

"I could stay here," Justin blurted. He knew he had at least one test today, but he would much rather stay at home with his…_sister_. He gritted his teeth at the word, wishing it meant something other than family.

"Well, I guess that'd be okay. It's just a Friday. Don't get in a fight with your sister while we're gone! We'll back on Sunday." Theresa closed the door as Jerry honked the horn and shouted, "Hurry it up already!"

As soon as the parents were out of sight and Max had flashed to school, Justin made his way back up the spiral staircase to Alex's room. He knocked lightly on the door, and receiving no response, he opened it.

Alex, clearly not ill, was lying on her stomach with headphones over her ears, the music loud enough that Justin could still hear it from her doorway. Justin chuckled to himself. She was so convincing. He took advantage of this moment, examining her from behind as she lay faced away from the door. A moment later, he mentally slapped himself. _Your sister_, he repeated, over and over again. _She's your sister_. Even then, he couldn't help himself.

Alex glanced over her shoulder at her clock as a new song began, and jumped when she saw Justin standing there. She tossed her headphones onto the bed, suddenly disconnecting them from her iPod and abruptly stopping the music that blared from the device. "What are you _doing_ in here?" she asked.

"I was coming to check on you. Mom said you stayed home because you were sick, and since she and dad are gone, she told me that I…" Justin trailed off as Alex aimed one of her infamous glares at him.

"I don't need anyone to 'check on me'. I would've been just fine by myself," Alex replied harshly. "Go play with your action figures or something, since you've already decided to play hooky."

Justin exited the room and closed the door without a word, feeling defeated. He'd tried to help, regardless of ulterior motives, and she'd yelled at him for it. _Can't I do anything right?_ Justin wondered as he sat on his bed.

Alex tried to breathe evenly as she fell back onto her bed. He was here. She couldn't seem to get away from him, no matter what she did.

She had to tell him. Alex knew that telling Justin her feelings was a crazy and stupid idea, but it had to be done, regardless of the repercussions.


End file.
